There are (incredibly) 40 prospects of note in the Oilers system this winter, so I’m going to finish off the list with two posts that include 21-30 and then 31-40. As I mentioned as we got toward the end of the top 20, after about #16 there’s not a lot of difference so if your guy is #28 don’t have a fit because he could have landed at #21 if the wind was blowing in a different direction.

#21 F Kyle Platzer, London Knights (34, 8-7-15 -3). I like him plenty and believe there might be a player here, but his NHLE (82, 6-5-11) tells us he could improve a lot and still miss by a mile. Platzer can’t get playing time, and I know the Knights are a talent-rich team but he’s 18-years old and still can’t break in. This could be a significant slotting error, but I think we’ll wait to give him a push.

#22 D Brandon Davidson, Oklahoma City Barons (24, 0-2-2 -10). It’s been an up and down fall for the young man, he was called up to the NHL (didn’t play) early on and then struggled during the rest of the schedule. The problem for all of the depth D prospects in this organization is the sheer number of blue chip D above them. I’m cheering like hell for this young man. He was #21 a year ago.

#23 G Laurent Brossoit, Oklahoma City Barons (7, 3.53 .885). Pegging these goaltenders is a tough item, and there are suddenly a ton as you’ll see as we roll toward #40. I’m ranking Brossoit here on the strength of ‘saw him good’ during his time with the Oil Kings and the value Edmonton clearly has for this goalie (believe me, he’s going to get a push).

#24 L Daniil Zharkov, Torpedo (35, 3-0-3 +1). A big winger with skill, he hasn’t done a thing to improve his number this season. In the OHL, I got the feeling he was a ‘tweener’ in that he was supposed to score but didn’t seem to be doing a lot of it. That trend continues in Russia, but his size gets him here.

#25 F Aiden Muir, Indiana Ice (22, 6-11-17). Another big forward, this fellow is getting some traction now and I have a feeling he’ll be well inside the top 20 by the time we pick up the conversation in summer. 6.03, 180 and he’s just a kid. Should be a fun follow.

#26 D Brad Hunt, Oklahoma City Barons (22, 3-10-13 +4). If you were to accuse me of slotting the defensemen conservatively after the top 5 or so, I’d agree with it. Part of the difficulty here is that there’s so many impressive blue that we know they can’t all make the grade. Hunt’s small stature makes him a long shot, but he’s impressed in a big way.

#27 C Ryan Martindale, Oklahoma City Barons (13, 1-4-5 -7). I refuse to believe he’s lost all that junior talent. Martindale has size and skill, and that’s what this organization needs in spades. I’m hopeful they give him a full shot, and if he ends up not getting a contract then at least you knew for sure.

#28 G Richard Bachman, Oklahoma City Barons (10, 2.58 .920). A nice debut with the Oilers, he made it all the way to the NHL. I’m not certain he really counts as a prospect, but he is certainly a possible future solution so he makes the list in that category.

#29 D Joey Laleggia, Denver (19, 6-7-13). Another defenseman who could probably be ranked higher, Laleggia is a very small, mobile defender who might flourish in the Eakins system. I haven’t a good feel for the ranking this year, and guys like Laleggia are the reason why. MacT may love the guy or they might not bother to sign him—the new GM has no attachment to him.

#30 C Travis Ewanyk, Oklahoma City Barons (29, 3-2-5 -3). This is not where I had him slotted originally, but the reports from OKC have been so positive Ewanyk lands here. I don’t think we’re looking at anything beyond a 4line C, but if he ends up being Jim Dowd with an edge that’s a useful item.

Really looking forward to watching Muir progress. He has been one of if not the best for Indiana this season though I dont know the quality of the ushl. He reminds me of the Jankowski pick for Calgary where he has size and great potential except Muir was taken in a round where throwing a dart is accepted.
Platzer was alright in rookie camp but i just dont see it, these are important development years and he just isnt getting the push.

Nelson was on CHED today saying it was to get Brossoit three starts before Christmas. One never knows where the truth ends and the lies begin, but I doubt MacT fades on Brossoit after dealing an actual NHL player for him.

Lowetide:
Nelson was on CHED today saying it was to get Brossoit three starts before Christmas. One never knows where the truth ends and the lies begin, but I doubt MacT fades on Brossoit after dealing an actual NHL player for him.

No question he’ll get the org push.

Would just be nice if the goalie that you traded an Actual NHL Dman for was the best, or even second best option in the AHL.

The fact that the coach needs to send him to the ECHL to get work isn’t good.

Don’t get me wrong, young goalies go to the ECHL all the time, but this guy was the center piece for an Actual NHL Dman, and I expect a lot better out of the gate.

I looked up Kale Kessy on the OKC Barons stats sheet to see how he was faring. Looks like he’s on target for your projected 15-20 pts by years end. He’s only -2 and has 2G, 2A in 23 games, with 44 PIM. (Stats from memory, I may be a little off.) While I was looking at that, I saw that Horak has 5G, 5A in 16 games. Not bad.

Not a bad group of players for this part of the list – some guys you wouldn’t be shocked to see play in the NHL at least. Though last years list had Arcobello and VV (who got some more NHL games this year, and is actually scoring a little in the AHL).

It might be a testament to the solid group that Davidson, who hadn’t shown anything as a pro last year, is ranked lower this year despite a strong finish in the AHL and a nice camp this time around. It’s worth following these guys at least.

It might be a testament to the solid group that Davidson, who hadn’t shown anything as a pro last year, is ranked lower this year despite a strong finish in the AHL and a nice camp this time around. It’s worth following these guys at least.

I think Davidson gets a pass for not showing anything as a pro last year after having cancer, and then beating it.

It was a bit of a weird move considering that neither player is even playing in the AHL. I wonder though if the Sharks came looking for Bigos and since MacT had no plans of signing him said sure you can have him. Moffie may just have been a paper transaction to complete the deal.

The Sharks at least did sign Bigos in some manner (he’s playing in San Francisco, their ECHL affiliate, though I guess it’s a minor league deal since it’s not listed in capgeek). The appeal may have been that he’s a California native – playing with the SF Bulls, or being in the system at all could be cool for both parties.

I wrote about the Brossoit thing the other day, or earlier today… can’t remember.

But, I think this is a lot more about Bachman coming back from injury than the play of any of Brossoit, Bunz, Pickard or Rimmer.

It looks like they want Brossoit to play games and if Bachman is their pro #3 that means he basically has to go to the ECHL until Bachman is injured or falters severely, in which case I’m certain they’ll call up Brossoit rather than have one of the other Gs fill in.

I’m not that concerned about the move. I don’t think it says much. This comment, though, is right on:

Would just be nice if the goalie that you traded an Actual NHL Dman for was the best, or even second best option in the AHL.

The fact that the coach needs to send him to the ECHL to get work isn’t good.

Don’t get me wrong, young goalies go to the ECHL all the time, but this guy was the center piece for an Actual NHL Dman, and I expect a lot better out of the gate.

That’s not a knock on Brossoit or where he is on his development path, where he’ll end up, or on today’s move.

That’s simply an acknowledgement that the Smid trade still doesn’t make much sense and that targeting a goalie for a trade who is still so far from NHL work (realistically, if all goes perfectly… what are we talking, 2-3 years away?) is off-putting.

You weren’t asking me, but he appears to have been in Portland all season (missed a few games with injury I guess?). He’s on their active roster now and there’s no record of transactions involving him going up/down since he was assigned to Portland on Oct. 3rd (all this info from theAHL.com).

Rieder for Kessy didn’t look like a good trade the day it was made and it looks much worse now. No idea if he’ll make it to the NHL, but it the Barons could use him over whatever it is that Kessy brings. Too bad. One of Tambellini’s last moves and it really sums up his tenure.

fifthcartel:
Brossoit got a shutout in the ECHL so apparently he has not let in a goal in the 4 games he’s played in. Hopefully he stays longer than 3 games so he can build up a nice chunk of games.

I noticed that tonight too. 3 shutouts plus a few clean minutes in relief appearance – very impressive. Agreed that letting him play (and hopefully dominate) in the ECHL beats being a benchwarmer in OKC (and Bachman does need to play as #3 on the depth chart).

Nice that Brossoit is playing well at the ECHL level but Olivier Roy also ripped up that league the past two years. I believe Brossoit will ultimately be the better pro but he has a long way before he makes the Smid deal remotely defensible.

Greogor has an article up today suggesting that the Oilers need a more physical presence on the back end. Someone like Matt Greene. Ya, didn’t we just trade someone who is better for than Matt Greene for hope and cap space. math is hard but…. we didn’t need the cap space. Of course we will when MacT goes out this summer to sign a replacement UFA and finds asking prices through the roof as the cap rises.

nelson88: Nice that Brossoit is playing well at the ECHL level but Olivier Roy also ripped up that league the past two years. I believe Brossoit will ultimately be the better pro but he has a long way before he makes the Smid deal remotely defensible. Greogor has an article up today suggesting that the Oilers need a more physical presence on the back end. Someone like Matt Greene. Ya, didn’t we just trade someone who is better for than Matt Greene for hope and cap space. math is hard but…. we didn’t need the cap space. Of course we will when MacT goes out this summer to sign a replacement UFA and finds asking prices through the roof as the cap rises.

If you take the Smid trade as getting Bryz back plus 3 prospects, suddenly it doesn’t look so bad.
If you are mad about the Oil losing Smid, get mad at DD for playing a major role in destroying the team’s season with 15 early losses. And you wonder why the Oil are likely to want nothing of DD after this season?

OilLeak:
I’m calling it now, the Reider for Kessy trade will haunt the Oilers for a decade once he becomes a prolific 2-way player in the NHL.

I keep hearing the vitriol regarding that trade but if I remember correctly weren’t their rumblings that Reider wasn’t going to sign with the Oilers b/c he was too much of what the Oil had (i.e. smaller skilled forward)?

Andy P: If you take the Smid trade as getting Bryz back plus 3 prospects, suddenly it doesn’t look so bad.

But the Oilers don’t currently need cap space, unless there’s an earth shattering trade on the horizon. I don’t see how the Smid trade could be necessary to facilitate signing Bryz for the remainder of the year.

My take has been that MacT honestly doesn’t think Smid is worth the money he’s being paid and wanted to dump the contract. One can question the return, but the Oilers clearly value Brossoit highly.

jp,
The Oilers have $7.2M in cap space (not including bonuses) and $9.2M in potential bonuses. I don’t have any desire to try to figure out how much of that potential bonus will be paid out, but I am reasonably sure it will be more than zero. A safe guess might be half, or $4.6M. $7.2M – $4.6M = $2.6M. That’s not much space. Smid’s cap hit is $3.5M. If there’s one thing I’d be pissed about, it would be the Oilers borrowing cap space from next year to pay for bonuses this year.

Unfortunately we don’t have any good insight into what triggers the bonuses so we will never know for sure. However; I believe it has been widely reported in the past that the triggers for major components include things like winning the Calder or the Hart trophy or top 20 in league scoring. According to your capgeek link the 5 bonus eligible players are RNH, Yak, Lander, SchultzJR and Belov.

Unless one of the triggers is the worst +/- in the league (D and F in this case) we can be confident it isn’t a big issue for the Oilers. Absent a trade for a big ticket item like Shea Webber this was a red herring MacT put out there. More likely JP is correct that MacT has never been a fan of Smid, felt he was paid too much and “traded” him for the older Ference. All foolish in my opinion.

The Edmonton Oilers may give the appearance of running in place, but don’t accuse them of standing still.

Beauty lead.

But the early season stability was a mirage. On the big club, both goalies struggled, then Dubnyk incurred an ankle injury that sidelined him for a while. The goalie carousel started to spin.

Actually it’s better to think of it as a ferris wheel, with goalies going up, down, and around the organization.

Brilliant up-ending of the (Conklinesque) carousel cliche, with theme-appropriate imagery of a carnival fun-house overrun by demented Barkers.

They may be stoppers, but they don’t stop anywhere for long.

Perfect mid-article echo of the beauty lead–and we all know we had some stoppers who over-stayed after the bung popped out of their inside edge.

Who knows how long the current situation will hold, but it’s safe to assume it won’t be forever. It’s not too tough to imagine Pickard getting a couple of games in OKC, followed by another quarter turn to unload/reload the goalie ferris wheel.

The “quarter turn” works its magic: pass the Gravol, I’m not feeling too good. One almost feels that “standing still” might be an upgrade over the waggling cage.

I was so primed as the article concluded for the third beat of the standing/stopping riff, already latent in the visuals. “Cadger” practically barged into the blue paint of feisty tap-ins. But what does it really mean?

He was not a regular gondolier, so he had none of the cadger and prostitute about him.

It might be possible to make something of something from nothing, but the tap-in is not lying as much on-top-of-the-grass as I first imagined. Interestingly, “observation wheel” is considered a near-synonym for “Ferris wheel”. Sorry, men with pads, the view is highly obstructed; moreover, we’re observing your spin-the-bottle moments from the implacable glass booth.

The 135 m London Eye, typically described as a “giant Ferris wheel” by the media, has ovoidal externally-mounted motorised capsules and is the “world’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel” according to its operators, who dispute its Ferris wheel status.

The London Eye is often mistakenly called a Ferris wheel. This is not the case: first, the passenger capsules are completely enclosed and are climate controlled [aka air conditioned]; secondly, the capsules are positioned on the outside of the wheel structure and are fully motorised; and third, the entire structure is supported by an A-frame on one side only.

The Singapore Flyer, which is supported on both sides, bills itself as the “world’s largest observation wheel” with a height of 165 m.

Ah yes, it’s not “sexual relations” unless you extend both little fingers, or grope two-handed. Ever-stray and never say.

In that picture, those taut guy-wires strung off the rear nubbin look important. I wonder if our one-sider of elite promotion has so many anchored bundles, or if they just kinda rely on stout tubing, calm weather, and the fifty-passenger limit.

Looking more closely at that Cannondale contraption I’m thinking: why even support it with one arm? Hell, you could suspend it from some a heavily cantilevered high arch–maybe dangle a real big one into the Grand Canyon slung from above, or something like that as found only in Fat Man-traumatized-post war-America. (After being pressed into service between the pipes, two entire Merino lambskins were needed to weave his arctic-magnum jockstrap–which he fondly refers to as his “toasty toque for two”. One time–on a rare occasion his chubby bat-reflexes flashed his bat glove top corner a little too quickly–the sinking floater clanged around the tubing before disappearing five-furrow and they weren’t able to flip it out with a stick inserted through the webbing from behind, as customary. There was a quick debate about whether to best retrieve the puck using the Zamboni and chains to clear the crease, or to send out a bomb disposal robot–immediately christened Fat Bastard despite its exceptionally frail arm–to perform a delicate reach-around with the five-elbowed grappler–a daring operation immediately christened a “poke check” (which would have been the first ever at his end of the ice). Terrified of the clumsy needle-arm putting an unsightly snag into his toasty, candy-floss toque-for-two, he grumbles hotly “holy robin’s egg, I’ll just blast it right out!” After that, he never came off the bench again. Lesson learned, though the precision, six-elbowed remote manipulator was never quite the same.)

Back to reality. Wouldn’t it be kind of cool to board the giant “observation” wheel from a narrow, arching catwalk protruding vertiginously from the canyon’s rim–with spotless, invisible rails–at the caged capsule’s highest loft (it’s crucial to first pass under the maximum height bar, or at least ace the African swallow when queried by the crusty capsule keeper) then spin down into the majestic crevice, before redounding from the depths ¡Ay caramba! back to the high, pre-departure bluff, puckered, clenched, elated and wobbly-legged?

nelson88: Unless one of the triggers is the worst +/- in the league (D and F in this case) we can be confident it isn’t a big issue for the Oilers.

This gave me a good chuckle. I figured there may be some incentives for games played, etc. Anyway, yeah, it looks like a lot of that bonus possibility is tied up in “non-roster players” like Nurse. The real question is: do the Oilers know how much bonus they are looking at paying out? I know there’s variability, especially with a guy like Yak who could get hot at any time.